Pneumatic engine-starter.



Patentd June 4, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- INVENTOR flaw: 63/ 6/5 1'26 Ha Iv s zu WITNESSES s. ICHRISTIANSEIII. PNEUMATIC ENGINE STARTER.

APPLICA'KION FILED FEEL 9. I915.

1 A3QQ Patented June 4;, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2 [KI Il v INVENTOR Fa r22 e L 6&2 a'sfizkmselv.

WITNESSES ATTOB N EY FFEQ.

BARNEY CHRISTIANSEN, or SLATER, IOWA.

PNEUMATIC EN GIN E-STARTER.

Application filed February 9, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARNEY CHRISTIAN- SEN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Slater, in the county of Story and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Engine-Starters, of which the following is a specification.

An object of my invention is to provide an engine starter of the compressed air type which is so arranged that while the engine is running, the device will act as an air compressor to store up air in a suitable air stor age reservoir, the means for starting the engine being a compressed air engine which is operated by the air received from the air storage reservoir.

A further object is to so construct the mechanism that the device may be thrown into and out of the operative relation both to compress the air and to use the compressed air in cranking or starting an explosive engine, a steam engine, or other like mechanisms.

With the above and other objects in View, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will hereinafter be set forth in connection with the accompanying drawings and then pointed out in. the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of the device with parts thereof shown in vertical section to better illustrate the operating mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view through one of the power cylinders and the compressed air chest associated therewith.

In the present disclosure I have illustrated the device as being of the two cylinder type, although it will be understood that where greater power is required, a greater number of cylinders might be used, and in this connection, it is pointed out that it is advisable that the device be constructed to be of the multiple cylinder type as by constructing the device in this way, the crank shaft 1 which is journaled in the crank case 2 may have two or more crank pins 3 and 4 connected therewith from corresponding crank arms and these arms may be disposed on the quarter turn or in any relation which is varied from a diametrically opposed rela- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June a, 1918.

Serial No. 77,317.

tion, thus relieving the possibility that the device will ever be on a dead center. Of course, where more than two cylinders are used, the cranks may be spaced on the thirds, fourths, etc., of a complete turn, and in this way, one of the cranks of the shaft 1 will at all times have power applied thereto and at the same time the possibility of the parts becoming set in a dead center is relieved.

The compression cylinders 5 and 6 are connected with the crank case 2 in line with the crank pins 3 and 4, and above these compression cylinders 5 and 6 are mounted the power cylinders 7 and 8, the cylinders 5 and 6 being closed at their upper ends and the power cylinders 7 and 8 having heads at each end thereof. A fly wheel 9 is connected on the crank shaft 1 preferably within the crank case 2 and this crank shaft may be extended to any desired length at one end, the clutch member 10 being mounted thereon outside of the crank case 2 to be capable of turning movement and a gear wheel 11 being connected with this clutch member to be intergeared with similar gears transmitting to and from the shaft of the engine to be started. A collar 12 is mounted on the shaft 1 to hold this friction member 10 against displacement and a clutch cone 13 is splined on the shaft 1 adjacent the mounting of the clutch member to beheld in a spaced relation therefrom by the spring 14 which is connected between the cone member 13 and the clutch member 10, a collar 15 being provided on the cone clutch member 13 to receive the usual operating fork (not shown) which is connected therewith and through any operating means is led toa position to be conveniently actuated by the operator.

Referring now more particularly to the compression cylinder 5 and the power cylinder 7 as shown in section in Figs. 1 and 3, this cylinder 5 has a piston 16 mounted therein. to be capable of reciprocatory movement, a connecting rod 17 being mounted on the wrist pin 18 of this piston and on the crank pin 3 to cause the piste-n 16 to have reciprocatory movement as the shaft 1 is turned, and inversely to transmit rotary movement to the shaft 1 as the piston 16 is given reciprocatory movement within the cylinder 5. A piston rod 19 is connected with thevhead of the piston 16 to extend upwardly and is passed through a stuffing box 20 carried in the head of the cylinder 5 and through a stufling box 21 in the lower head of the power cylinder 7, this piston rod 19 being connected at its upper end with the operating piston 22 which is mounted to have reciprocatory movement in the power cylinder 7 The air compression cylinder 5 is provided with a plurality of intake openings 23 formed through the side walls there of near the lower end as is better shown in connection with the cylinder 6 of Fig. 1, and an outlet check valve 24 is connected through the head of the cylinder 5, a suitable air pipe 25 being led from this outlet check valve 24 to the air storage reservoir 26. By arranging the parts in this manner, as the piston 16 is carried to the lower end of its stroke, a suction or vacuum is created in the cylinder 5 due to the fact that the check valve 24 is closed, and when the piston 16 has passed below the intake openings 23, the air will rush therethrough to fill the space within the cylinder 5 and as the piston 16 is moved on the upstroke, this air will be compressed in the cylinder 5 and will be forced out through the outlet check valve 24 and consequently through the air pipe to the air storage reservoir 26.

The power cylinder 7 has a fluid chest 27 connected on the side thereof and the fluid passages 28 and 29 are led through the wall and head of the cylinder 7 to such apoint that the passage 28 discharges downwardly through the upper head and the passage 29 discharges upwardly through the lower head, the exhaust port or passage 30 being formed through the wall of the cylinder 7 between these fluid passages 28 and 29 to also lead into the fluid chest 27.

A compressed air supply pipe 31 is connected with the air storage reservoir 26 and is controlled through a valve 32, an air supply pipe 32 being connected from this main compressed air supply pipe 31 to the fluid chest 27. A slide valve 33 is mounted in the fluid chest 27 and is cored out in its face at 34 after the manner of the usual steam engine valve, this cored out face being mounted to work on the side wall of i the chamber 7 over the passages 28 and 29 and the exhaust port 30, and communication being established with the exhaust (not shown) in the usual manner. A cam shaft 35 is mounted in suitable supports 36 which are carried from the crank case 2 and this cam shaft 35 has a gear 37 connected thereon to mesh with a gear 38 of a similar size which is mounted on the free end of the crank shaft 1, the parts being so arranged that for each revolution of the crank shaft 1, the cam shaft 35 will be given equal movement. A stem 39 is connected with the slide valve 33 and is passed through the ower wall of the fluid chest 27 to have its lower end engaged by the upper end of the being provided at 43 to I While I have described more particularly those parts which are arranged in conjunction with the compressioncylinder 5 and the power cylinder 7, it will be understood that the parts arranged with the compression cylinder 6 and the power cylinder 8 will be substantially equivalent, the air pipe 25 being connected with the cylinder 6 through the outlet supply pipe 46 establishing a connection from the main air supply pipe 31 to the fluid chest of the cylinder 8, and the connecting rod 47 transmitting movement from the crank pins 4 to the reciprocating parts within the cylinders 6 and 8, and inversely giving movement to the crank shaft as these parts mounted within the cylinders 6 and 8 are given reciprocatory movement under power.

In use, the actuation of the parts will be as follows:-

When the engine is operating, the clutch member 10 will be rotated through the geared connection from the engine shaft to the gear wheel 11 mounted in conjunction with the clutch member 10, and as these parts are loosely mounted on the crank shaft 1, they may have turning movement independently of this shaft. By shifting the cone clutch member 13 against the tension of the spring 14, this cone clutch member will be brought into frictional engagement with the clutch member 10 and in consequence the crank shaft 1 will be turned. As the crank pins 3 and 4 are given move ment, the compression pistons 16 mounted in the cylinders 5 and 6 are given reciprocatory movement and through the arrangement of the outlet check valves 24 and 45 and the intake openings 23, air is taken into these cylinders from the atmosphere and after being compressed therein is forced through the outlet check valves 24 and 45 and through the air pipe 25 to the air storage reservoir 26, the check valves 24 and-'45 acting to prevent return of the air under pressure. It will of course be understood that the valve 32 in the compressed air pipe 31 is closed during this pumping or air compressing operation, and when the desired pressure has been obtained in the air storage reservoir 26, the cone clutch member 13 will be again released to be moved by the spring 14 from the frictionall en a ed rep y g 3' check valve 45, the air lation with the clutch member 10 and in consequence the clutch member 10 and the gear 11 are again freed to rotate on the shaft 1. While the load placed on the engine by the operation of the compressing means is very slight, when the cone clutch member 13 is out of engagement with the clutch member 10, the additional load upon the engine is practically all removed, the onlv lost power being that taken to turn the gear wheel 11 and the clutch member 10.

Now assuming that the proper air pressure has been attained in the air storage reservoir 26 and that the engine is stopped or idle and is to be started; the valve 32 in the compressed air pipe 31 is opened and the compressed air is supplied from the air storage reservoir 26 through the pipes 32 and 46 and consequently to the fluid chests of the power cylinders 7 and8, and in accordance with the particular setting of the valve 33 in these fluid chests, the compressed air will flow through either the passage 28 or 29 of one of the cylinders and in consequence the operating pistons will be given reciprocatory movement within the power cylinders 7 and 8, the back and forth movement being accomplished through the shifting of the valves 33 through the actuation of the cams 42 mounted on the cam shaft 35 and these parts acting after the manner of the usual type of compressed air or steam engines. As the crank shaft 1 is being turned the proper movement will be transmitted to the cam shaft 35 to cause continuous actuation of the slide valves 33, and by shifting the cone clutch member 13 into frictional engagement with the clutch member 10, the power will be transmitted through the connection to the gear wheel 11 to cause the engine shaft to be turned and consequently the desired cranking or start ing movement will be imparted thereto. When the desired movement of the engine shaft has been accomplished, the valve 32 may be closed and the structure will then act as a compressor to force compressed air from the cylinders 5 and 6 to replenish the compressed air supply reservoir 26 and the cone clutch member 13 may then be moved to the inoperative relation and the device will remain idle until it is desired to compress more air or to again start the engine.

While I have herein shown and described only one specific form of my invention, it will be understood that various modifications in the construction and combinations of the working parts might be resorted to, that a whistle or other signal might be connected from the air supply reservoir, or an air connection established therefrom to inflate the tires when the device is used in connection with a motor vehicle, and that other changes and variations can be adopted without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention and hence I do not wish to be limited to any points except those which may be set forth in the claims.

I claim:

1. An engine starter comprising a crank case, a crank shaft mounted in said crank case and provided with a pair of crank arms spaced apart on approximately the quarter turn, compressing cylinders mounted in alinement with said crank arms, power cylinders alined with the compression cylinders, pistons mounted in each of said cylinders, piston rods connected between the pistons of each pair of cylinders, air supply passages to the compression cylinders above the lower end of the stroke of the pistons thereof, air outlet check valves connected at the opposite end of the cylinders, an air storage reservoir to which the air passing from the compression cylinders is supplied, compressed air chests connected with the power cylinders, passages led from said chests to the opposite ends of the power cylinders, valves mounted in said casings to be given reciprocatory movement to consecutively close and open said passages, a fluid supply from said compressed air storage reservoir to the compressed air chest, a clutch member loosely mounted on the crank shaft and connected in a driving relation to the engine shaft, and a cone clutch member splined on the crank shaft to be moved into frictional engagement with the clutch member to connect the crank shaft to transmit movement from and to the engine shaft.

2. An engine starter comprising a crank case, a crank shaft mounted in said crank case and provided with a pair of crank arms spaced apart on approximately the quarter turn, compressing cylinders mounted in alinement with said crank arms, power cylvinders alined with the compression cylinders, pistons mounted in each of said cylinders, piston rods connected between the pistons of each pair of cylinders, air supply passages to the compression cylinders above the lower end of the stroke of the pistons thereof, air outlet check valves connected at the opposite ends of the cylinders, an air storage reservoir to which the air passing from the compression cylinders is supplied, compressed air chests connected with the power cylinders, passages led from said chests to the opposite ends of the power cylinders, valves mounted in said chests to be given reciprocatory movement to consecutively close and open said passages, a fluid supply from said compressed air storage reservoir to the compressed air chest, a clutch member loosely mounted on the crank shaft and adapted to be connected in a driving relation to the engine shaft, a cone clutch member splined on the crank shaft to be moved into frictional engagement with the clutch member to permit the crank shaft gine shaft a control Copies of this patent may be obtained for reservoir and when the. engine is idle the valve supplying to the compressed air chests can be opened to permit the actuation of the pistons mounted in the power cylinders to cause the crank shaft to be rotated and to consequently transmit starting movement to the engine.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BARNEY GHRISTIANSEN. WVitnesses CLARENCE O. NnsLUND, SENsENn HEGGOM.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington; I). G. 

